As the nationwide strike by organised labour over a new minimum wage for workers paralyse economic activities across the country, the Federal Government and labour leaders engage in a meeting in Abuja later on Monday.
The ongoing meeting has the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero; and his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, in attendance.
On the government’s side is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume; Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi; Labour Minister Nkiruka Onyejeocha; among others.
Businesses, airports, universities, hospitals and power supply were affected as the workers began an indefinite strike on Monday over their demand for a new minimum wage.
Both NLC and TUC said the current minimum wage of N30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker, lamenting that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet the contemporary economic demands of workers.
Labour later handed the Federal Government a 31 May deadline for the new minimum wage. On that day, the workers’ organs in the country declared a nationwide strike beginning on Monday, 3 June over the government committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and reversal of the electricity tariff hike.
During the failed talks with the government, Labour rejected three government offers, the latest being N60,000. The TUC and the NLC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on N494,000 as the new minimum wage.
Last-minute talks between labour leaders and the leadership of the National Assembly failed on Sunday night as the organised labour said there was no going back on the industrial action.
